History And The Texas Judiciary System

The 1876 Texas State constitution is the basic framework of today’s legislature it consists of three branches the legislative branch which is comprised of the house and senate, and the executive and judiciary branch. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the Texas legislature’s major responsibilities relative to checks and balances.

The state bureaucracy administers/implements the laws of Texas. It is run by executives whose job is to see that the laws of the state are implemented according to the will and intent of the Legislature. Ideally, these executive branch officials or bureaucrats are to administer their duties and implement the laws in a neutral manner, uninfluenced by politics. In reality, state bureaucrats are important players in not just implementation, but also policy making. In Texas, there is no overall central governing or controlling authority. Government authority in Texas is very decentralized, and rests within many independent state agencies.

Texas has been through a lot of changes and constitutions. After constants debates of what the constitution should be, the current Texas constitution was established in 1876 and is the 7th constitution Texas has had. It created 3 branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The current constitution has great qualities, but it also contains a lot of weaknesses that shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of pride.

The History of Texas Texas history itself had its own amazing story. The small number of American settlers moved to the land of Texas had led to the dramatic war with the Mexicans. The land of Texas was used to be owned by Mexicans. Due to the argument between Texans and Mexicans caused the battle of San Jacinto and Mexican War. In long ago before American settlers moved to Texas, this place was so rich and an abundance of land.

The main function of the judicial branch in Texas is the same as the federal judicial branch: to interpret the laws. By doing this the Texas judicial branch settles disputes, determines whether those who have been charged with violating the law are guilty or innocent, and settles the

In the beginning, it began as Texas became a state in 1845 with the separation of powers. According to Texas constitution “ The powers of the Government of the State of Texas shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy, Those which are Legislative to one; those which are Executive to another, and those which are Judicial to another; and no person, or collection of persons, being of one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly attached to either of the others, except in the instances herein expressly permitted.” (Article 2 Sec 1). The purpose of this is because they want to disperse the power in-between the people in power. Also, to give power to the people especially at a local level and in their

From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a

When Texas became a state in 1845, judges were appointed by the governor with state consent, but in but since 1876, judges at all levels of courts have been elected by the

On September 17, 1787, the U.S. constitution was signed. The U.S. constitution is a document that has a set of rules, guidelines, and principles that governs our nation. This constitution is the oldest written national document and has had 27 amendments. The current Texas constitution is the seventh document written for Texas. The previous six were all when Texas was still apart of Mexico. The current constitution hasn’t been revised since 1876, which makes it the longest state constitution in the United States.

In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.

The Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States, if not the world. It features five layers of courts, several instances of overlapping jurisdiction, and a bifurcated appellate system at the top level. The structure of the system is laid out in Article 5 of the Texas Constitution.

The core function of the Texas Legislature is to formulate and enact laws. Apart from the enactment of laws, the legislative body is also mandated with the functions of shaping the state’s political agenda, performing checks and balances on state of the state’s government, pass the state’s budget, as well as oversee the functions of the administration. Similarly, the body also sets the critical details or a court’s organizational procedures when it comes to matters that pertain to impeachment and court disputes regarding election petitions. It is equally important to mention that the body is also mandated with the function of informing and educating the electorate regarding the critical functions the body is required to deliver to the people as provided for by the laws of the State of Texas (Dautrich and Yalof 684).

1.  Should the Texas Legislature continue to serve as a part-time lawmaking body, only meeting in regular session for 140 days every two years, or should it change to a full-time body meeting in regular session each year?

At the County level, three types of courts exist, the first of them being Constitutional County Courts. The state constitution creates one Constitutional County Court in each of the 254 Texas Counties. Constitutional County Courts have concurrent jurisdiction with Justice of Peace Courts and State District Courts in small civil matters. Constitutional County Courts

There has been seven Texas Constitutions since 1827 including our current Constitution, which was established on 1876. Our current constitution has been amended hundreds of times because of its tight restrictions. The Legislative department is the dominant branch of the Texas Constitution it is subject to check and balances in the tripartite system. The Executive department limits the government’s power, and the judicial powers is divided into smaller courts. These three branches of the Texas are examples of how restricted and limited our constitution is.